Scout's Review: Prowl

Prowl has had many different incarnations. Being brought back once again as part of the Japanese Car Robots line, he gained the title of Mach-Alert, until the show and character were aired in the US as Prowl.

Interestingly enough, being the middle child, he displays many of the typical traits often seen in human middle siblings.He picks on his younger brother Sideburn in an affectionate manner,but also talks up to his older brother X-Brawn. Through all ofhis family-oriented connections, he retains a very high sense of duty, and takes pride in his chosen path of function.

There are several occasions in the American cartoon, where he must choose priorities between family ties and duty obligations. The choices never seem to need to be made entirely, but the gist is that this Prowl incarnation would choose to aid his brothers first.

Box descriptionProwl added a new Spark engine to his configuration to improve his mobility and searching ability. With high-capacity radars on both his shoulders, he can instantly find enemies hiding in a 300 km radius. And once he finds them, theyre history. He has electronic systems for jamming radios or hacking into systems.

Powered-Up box descriptionProwl cruises the streets searching for enemy activity. His ultra-sensitive radars can detect the hum of a circuit from the other side of town. And once he locates them, they had better start running before he takes aim with his advanced weaponry. He can sabotage Decepticon plots with his electronic systems for jamming radios or hacking into systems.

Alternate modeProwl comes slanted down and outwards in a bubble on a long rectangular card. His two rocket jet-boosters are below him. Hes pictured to the left of the bubble in a triumphant sort of pose, with one arm up and his jet boosters blazing in his lowered arm (closest to the bubble).Prowls jet boosters look snazzy as weapons, but look a bit odd when in vehicle form, unless one can picture a Lamborghini with flaming jets on a consistent basis. Sharp contrast between a horizontal, white, upper side band and lower, horizontal, black bottom band make his vehicle form very eye catching (well, that and the fact of his styling model). His tires show the brand name: Transformers 2000.In his powered-up version, Prowl becomes primarily blue, having a blue frontal area and rear. Only a vertical area running over the cab area remains white. Also, whereas his lights were originally both red, he has now changed to having one red and one blue light. His Japanese symbols on the door have changed to the word Police, Mach Alert. Lastly, his hubcaps have changed from silver to gold.

Robot ModeOnce again, even though hes one my favorite RiD figure, the complexity of changing Prowl from one form to another caused me to open him, transform him once, and leave him stand next to his brothers- never to be transformed again. Wouldnt have been entirely bad, for I had mine autographed by his voice actor, Mr. Wankus at Botcon 2002. Fate has intervened for the toy once again though. With the review, he needed to be transformed, so I puzzled him out once more.Begin to change him from car to robot by gently pulling his doors outwards and rotating the handle-end upwards. (I must note here, that the decision of the toy designers to put ball and socket joints on these doors was a wise one. Nice feature. Next, carefully wiggle the front windshield backwards to pop it up and lift it as high as it will stretch. Follow the lift up with the hood (bonnet) so that both are vertical in position. Unfold Prowls legs from the engine compartment and extend them towards the front as far as they can go. The blue areas on the legs should be facing down, then extend his feet. Grasp the legs and slide the whole section forward towards the middle of the car. The legs will slide into place. Allow hood and windshield to come back down and then rotate the doors so that the windshields are towards the ground and the doors are horizontal to the body. Turn the figure over so that the underside is facing you. Fold down the torso plate with the Autobot symbol and slide it in. The next section may be tight and takes some gentle pressure. Separating the arms from the tail, I found it helpful to locate the ridges right next to the taillights. Take a thumb and pry them to the sides to open the arms. (They are attached inside by pegs, so it should be done carefully.) Bring down the arms and open the hands to finish the figure.

PoseabilityFlexible joints at the knees and elbows, as well as a head that turns- make Prowl a wonderfully poseable figure that can provide a great deal of battle scene action setups. The ball and socket joints as I mentioned before, are a feature I find most useful and enhancing. Although Prowl does not stand without assistance, he makes a wonderful shelf-sitter. One wish is that he should have had his tail-shield removeable for more fun.

Transformation:7 -Properly folding his legs and arms up to close his body successfully can be a real challenge.Durability:6 With the windows and windshield sticking out, many of these figures will be damaged over time. Fun: 8. He's a Lamborghini and very poseable. What more could one ask for?Price: Approx. $10.00Variations:A clear Japanese version, as well as a powered up Prowl.Overall: 7 - Terrific looking figure and really great action moves. Good price for this very detailed figure, but his transformation sequence is challenging and the canopy is still prone to breaking.